Gun Sense Ministry Team

PURPOSE The purpose of this ministry is to empower Unity Church and its membership to be active citizens in this process of dialogue and creation of policy.

OUR PARTNEREach ministry team at Unity Church is required to partner with an organization outside of the church. Unity's Gun Sense Ministry Team partners with Protect Minnesota, the only independent state-focused organization working for reasonable gun safety policy solutions in Minnesota. We urge all of you to look at their website and to join the organization. We think that it is positive, focused and reliable.

March 2019: Gun Sense Ministry Team Update

Gun Sense: A Teacher's PerspectiveFrom Sue Conner, Unity's Gun Sense Ministry TeamUnity’s Gun Sense Team spoke with church members Jackie and Dave Smith, long time teachers. We asked: As teachers, how do you see gun violence impacting the children you work with? How does it affect your work? How do you “deal with” the reality of gun violence as you work with children in a school setting?​Jackie and Dave:Last year three families in Jackie's school lost close family members to gun violence. Dave's school was the first place a mother, shot in the arm, ran to with her children when an intruder came to their nearby home. It is evident that the damage that this type of trauma leaves is deep and generational. How does a fourth grader heal after seeing her brother shoot himself? Do sisters ever come into their own while being raised by a mourning mother? The stress of this comes not just with the event, but supporting children who live with this type of grief, fear, and guilt for their entire lives, raised by parents who feel the same. The role of teacher is to care for children as they negotiate all the strain in their lives, and help them move forward. It is hard to learn when there are traumatic barriers in their lives.

As we begin this new Minnesota legislative session, we have another opportunity to pass some sensible gun policy bills that will save lives in Minnesota. Other states have done this, why can’t we? The bills being presented are:

2019 Red Flag Bill (House File 9/Senate File 436)

2019 Criminal Background Check Bill (House File 8/Senate File 434)

Read about them on protectminnesota.org. The leader of the Minnesota Senate has stated firmly that he will work to prevent new gun policies from passing in this session. We urge you to do what you can to influence members of the Minnesota Senate.